In the last few weeks I have...

- Soaked up a lot of Sun! This isn't always the sunniest spot, but the sun has been kind to us, and there has been a lot of it.

- Explored tide pools with two three year olds and learned all about the little and big creatures that live in them.

-Held a live star fish

-Been to two aquariums

-Concluded that I do not enjoy looking at live octopus

-Also concluded that schools of fish are really really cool!

-Stayed in a house that has 5 children 3 and under and 7 adults occupying it most of the time.

-Taken over an hour to get ready to go to the beach only to leave the beach a half hour later because a storm is blowing in and we are all ready for a nap.

-Saw the Redwoods for the first time

-Got a ring from Hubs for our 5th Anniversary. (Story of rings to come when we get home)

-Celebrated 5 years of marriage with hubs watching the sunset on the beach and eating cheesecake from whole foods and talking about life and how thankful we our for God's grace to us.

-Been to Whole Foods A Lot! (I really like this place, can you tell?)

-Been outlet shopping

-Celebrated my brothers 24th birthday

-Celebrated my mumsy's 60 birthday (She still has more energy then me though :) ) by giving her an iPad from all of us.

-Loved watching T play with his cousins

-Witnessed Soren's first temper tantrum. That's right, sweet little Soren can have quite the little temper on him. :)

-Done lots of laundry in the most lovely washer and dryer.

-Driven on the most beautiful drive down the coast and seen things that I will forever hold in my memory as breath taking

-Praised God for his creation and how beautiful he made this earth and that we get to ENJOY it!!

-Been dreading the long 3 to 4 days that will be spent in the car to get home.

-Missed my friends and realized how blessed and thankful I am to have friends that really love God

-Been trying to catch up on all the great BBC movies that have come out. (Which is really hard when they are all 7ish hours long and you are too tired to keep your eyes open most nights after 9:30)

-Overall had a wonderful time, spending time with my family, playing on the play ground, the beach, the mall, in the car, having camp fires, watching the waves and sunsets, having time to rest, staying up too late and over all continuing to thank God for this opportunity to get away and experience new things and see new places and be able to come back refreshed and ready for whatever God has in store for us.

I am too tired to add pictures, but I will try to share more soon. Here is just one however, one of my favorite views that I have seen on this trip.



Ok so I have to add the one of the boys cause I am a mother and I just couldn't help myself, I think they are darling. Especially with the ocean behing them. :)

Lots of Pictures

So tomorrow ends almost two weeks on the road, not staying more then one place for a few nights. It will be nice to settle for a while, not pack and unpack every night. It has been great to see new places but totally different when you don't have a personal tour guide through all of them and family to stay with. The responsibility of everything rests on you and you can't just go look around and be carefree. I am glad we did it, it gives a great perspective on what it is like to do big trips with kids, what is realistic and what isn't, how to schedule things so you don't wear out, or wear your kids out too much. By the time we get to a hotel most nights, which has been around 4 or 5pm the last few days, I am so wiped out I just go to bed after the kids are settled. It's crasy how tiring it is to travel. Anyway, blah blah bla, sorry for all the rambling, the real point of this post is to post pictures, just wanted to add some thoughts on our trip. There is a sad lack of one's of Soren here, some I haven't loaded on yet, but for lots of these things he was in the Ergo or snoozing in the stroller. :)

First Starbucks, my mom will appreciate this the most I think. :)


Pikes Place Starbucks Mugs


Watching these guys making cheese (Making sure all the water is draining out the ends)


The boys watching them stir the cheese



T-bird outside the aquriam, excited to go see some fish!. :)


My favorite little creatures at the aquariam, they are so cute and friendly, these ottors.


At the Aquariam. I saw my first live octopus, and it was one of the most disgusting things I have even seen. Gross. So I didn't take a picture, just this one of T


Loving showing my kiddos the ocean, God is so amazing.


Soren at Cannon Beach


Theo looking at the waves


Laughing as he runs away from the waves. This was a game him and I played. This is before the fall, later that evening. :)


How T felt about being near the ocean after he fell in. (The next day)


Happily playing in the sand far from the water


More to come of the two boys at the beach, Portland, and beyond...

Random Bullets

- My Grandpa's funeral is today. I wish I was there to say goodbye, to have closure. He was such a dear kind man, and I will miss him.
- We hit a wall on this trip, meaning we felt so exhausted from all the traveling around in the last week or so that we went to bed at 8pm, all of us. And it was good. :)
- It rained on the one full day we were in Seattle and we walked in it a lot. It was kind of fun, we were glad we had the chariot for the boys as they were dry and warm.
- At Pike's Place Market there is a cheese shop where you can watch them make cheese in the morning (see point below) and lots of it is made with raw milk (still my beating heart) and we bought fresh cheese curds. It doesn't get much better then that.
- Having boys that awake between 6 and 7am gives you the advantage of seeing places before most people are out and about.
- I got to do some laundry today (at 7am) and I just love it. Have I mentioned that before? I LOVE doing laundry, I think it is a tie between that and vaccuming for my favorite household chores.
- Oregen is by far the most beautiful state I have ever been in, and therefore hands down my favorite state. It is just so green and I am seeing more beauty then my little heart can contain.
- Went to a book store today, it is a City of Books (part of it's title) and it has new and used, is several floors and it's safe to say I could spend hours on end in there and way too much money. I of course can't spend to my hearts content, but I was able to get the boys a few books I was looking for, mostly all used, for about 3-4 dollars and in great condition. Just writing about it makes me want to go back for more. :) I found Little Blue Truck and Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (a couple of T's favorites from the library), Jamberry, Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type (I think that book is SO funny, I bought it more for me, lol), Time of Wonder, and A Birthday for Bear.
- God has shown himself to us in amazing ways on this trip, I can't even tell you how blessed I feel. Little gifts of money here and there, places to stay, deals on hotel rooms, good gas milage (way better then we expected), gift cards for food and the list goes on. It is so thrilling to see him present on this trip.
- One small example is that at one place we stayed they gave us their best room, that walked out right to the beach, for the price of their cheapest room. Just cause. Now if that isn't a gift, I am not sure what is.
- A few more days on the road and we will be at my Brothers house. We can't wait to stay in one spot for a while, but are so thankful for this opportunity to see all these WONDERFUL places. Now for Brian to just figure out what he wants to do..... Keep pryaing. :)
P.S. Am having trouble getting pictures to here, but more to come soon, I promise. I have some good ones. :)

Sea to shining Sea

Sorry for the last disjointed post, I was in a hurry. Found out yesterday that my grandpa passed away suddenly of a heart attack. He was older, so you know that the day is coming, but it still feels sudden, and sad. Also a good reminder that our days are in His hands. We just never know what tomorrow will bring. It is hard to know how to grieve. We have wonderful memories with Grandpa Lew, but we never spent loads of time together or lived in the same state. I think because I am not there the grieving will be more of a slow process. I feel worse for my dear mumsy and for Grandpa's wife and children and brothers and sisters, the people that are more affected on a day to day basis. I pray that God will be glorified through this as none of the rest of the family know him on a personal level. I think I grieve that the most, that I don't know if I will ever see him again.

Anyway, I hope it doesn't seem harsh to move on from that subject, but it's going to take time to process, and our trip continues on. We spend another fullish day in the car today and I must say that the boys do amazing. WAY beyond my expectations. We shall see when we have to spend two days at a time, but for now, they are doing great. This city we are in now is amazing and we are so excited to go explore tomorrow. We are staying right downtown, took us two hours to find a place to park because we have a top carrier on our van. Note to self, not a good idea for the city.

The drive today was SO beautiful and I can't even do it justice with words or pictures but I feel so in awe of God's creation. It never gets old. I have now been along much of the East coast and now along the West and it is just all so unique and wonderful. There is something about it all that just refreshes my spirit and I just want to spend all my time outdoors and in trees and mountians.
Ok, I will stop blabbing now and share some pictures from our trip so far.
Peek-a-Boo in the car :)



Worlds Largest Truck

Weddings, Relaxation and Life

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity and family. My mother surprised me by coming out to the wedding and we have has some nice time together that we probably won't get when we got to my brothers, and our boys have had some wonderful time with just Nana. Also we got to spend Mother's day together which is always a treat seeing as I adore her as a mother. :)
It was fun to be part of my cousins wedding. Her and her sister were the closest thing to sisters I ever had growing up, and we had so much fun celebrating her! It all goes too fast, and the realization that it will be 5 years at the end of this month for us seemed to really hit. I loved our wedding day, everything about it, and the fact that we were some of the last ones to leave our own wedding is testimant to the fact that our families are just too much fun to be with. There was no rushing off, we relished the moments, and I am so glad we did.
It has been special to be here at this camp, especially since everyone has gone, it has been so low key. All our meals are taken care off which is fabulous, this is no ordinary camp food. :) We have had such a nice time being able to just be a famiy, to connect, spend lots of time outside, sleeping, visiting, and just resting. You don't realize how much you need times like this until you get them. We knew we needed this trip though and we thank the Lord over and over for making it possible for us to go. As Brian works through where he wants to go from here from a work stand point I feel that God is really ministering to my heart as a mother, and where I want to go from here. So much I could share, but I have been really touched and my heart has resonated so much with Ann over at aholyexperience, as I know many other mothers as well. I will try to share more at another time
Anyway, I need to go. I will post pictures as we go along. I am excited to hit the road tomorrow and go to our next spot. Ready for some time in city now.